Goudemalion. Jean-Paul Goude - Les Arts Decoratifs

I was given a great tip to see this exhibition at Les Arts Decoratifs in Paris, which is France's answer to our V&A.


The retrospective of this "image makers" work was really inspiring, in terms of the dramatic ques he takes, and interesting ways of cutting up and re-arranging pictures.  


He worked with Grace Jones, really strong work obviously , as such an amazing subject.


He was the creative director of Esquire in NYC in the 70's, and he seems to have a few interesting obsessions.....  


The exhibition itself was really lush in terms of imagery, but really light on text (even in french).  I don't know much about him, but I didn't really feel like I learnt too much about him, so I wish it was a bit more wordy!

Hermes - Paris

I went along to the Hermes store in Paris, to see the design I've seen so much in the magazines.  Totally gorgeous, and well executed, but my pics aren't fantastic, as I was trying not to be discrete! The link below has a lot of good shots.


http://www.feeldesain.com/hermes-boutique-paris.html


The store is built into a listed Art Deco swimming pool, so the interventions are very surface level.  A really fantastic space, with beautiful detailing everywhere.  


Well worth a look next time you are there, not to mention the fantastically selected book shop. I brought two lovely design books, one tiny graphic novel, and one Japanese colour combination book.


You can see my pics below.

Cou cou, Paris!

Off on a research trip to Paris, I spent some time taking inspiration from the beautiful city.  I think I may be spending more time over there.... must learn more French!


Just a few pics of what I picked up on around the place.

Viabizzuno!

I was lucky enough to be invited to a Lighting Master Class with the Creative Director Mario Nanni from Viabizzuno, who has previously worked with the likes of Zumthor (swoon!) and Chipperfield, developing lighting alongside architecture.


It was a great day, I felt very privileged to have been able to attend.  I loved learning how he developed the concepts behind lighting projects and understanding how their light fittings were developed.  We even got a sneak peak at a gorgeous new light fitting which will be shown in Frankfurt and Milano.  Watch this space.....

Greenwich

A good friend is offski to the Big Apple next week, so we went down to Greenwich for a wander and some tea!  Really great going there, you completely feel like you have left London, and having a proper day trip.  


We took the ferry there, and saw all the sites en-route, including old pirate pubs!  No pics, was far too cold to be getting on with that!


Along with the Maritime Museum, with all it's new educational interactive displays, we also visited Queen's House, where you can see lots of dramatic nautical paintings, as well as good 'olde King Henry.


We then battled the rain, went up to the Meridian Line on top of the hill, just to say we did, and finished the day with a lovely cuppa tea.  


Perfect easy day.

http://www.rmg.co.uk/about/history/queens-house/

Don't Stray from the Path

I went along to the performance of "Don't Stray from the Path" at the Vault Festival last week, just behind Waterloo Station.


It basically was an interactive story tale, where you followed Little Red Riding Hood on the way to her Granny's house. 


It was really well done, and really well executed, but I kind of felt like I was in the middle of a bad dream, so needless to say, an hour was long enough for me!  


A lot of work went into it, set design, and loads of actors, wandering around you, trying to get you involved. 


Well worth a tenner, if you are into that kind of thing. 

http://www.thevaultfestival.com/products-page/week-one/dont-stray-from-the-path/

Surface Design Show

I was pretty busy last week, pulling together a presentation together for a client, but I found time to pop along to the Surface Design Show at the Business Design Centre in Angel.


Other years, there hasn't been too much in innovative new suppliers, but this year, a few things really caught my eye.  


The Pavegen Systems, which generates electricity from your footsteps, and also the company Gray Concrete, who make fibre reinforced concrete panels, with beautiful patterns. 

http://www.pavegen.com/

http://www.grayconcrete.co.uk/

And whilst waiting between meetings, popped into Peyton and Byrne at the Wellcome Centre, and saw a Gormley hanging from the ceiling.  Ah London!

http://www.wellcomecollection.org/

Hockney at the Royal Academy: A Bigger Picture

Not many pictures for this one... for the simple reason,  you must see it.  


I love going to retrospectives, because you really get to grips with why an artist does what they do. 

I didn't know much about Hockney.  I'm not sure why, as I went to art school here in London, but anyhow, it was all pretty new to me.


I loved the acidic colours he used in his landscapes. They reminded me that those colours do exist in nature, we just have to look for them.  When the sun is so bright the trees glow, and the shadows are deep purple.


The more abstract paintings he did, were from memory.  It was a fantastic way to show how your memory can distort things, or just let the most important things come through.


I really enjoyed the photo montages he did of the Grand Canyon back in the 80s.  Stunning.


There were also loads of iPad "paintings" and also, some of his video work, which I found especially interesting, as they were shot on a grid of cameras.  It's great to see how someone in their 70's has embraced new technologies, and pushing boundaries we didn't even know existed.  Pretty inspirational


So, no pics, go see it yourself, you won't regret it. 

http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/

Galleries, galleries!

It seems I have really had my fill of galleries this weekend!  Firstly, I was lucky enough to be invited to the private view of the Courthauld's biennial contemporary art exhibition, Material Matters.  The students select artists and invite them to show their work throughout the corridors of the institution.  My favourite piece was the colourful strung piece in Staircase II by Gabriel Dawe, called Plexus no.11.  It's gorgeous.  You must go and see it.  The exhibition is open on the last Saturday of each month, from Feb 2012 to June 2013.  So you've got time...

Then on Saturday,  I went to see the Building the Revlution: Soviet art and architecture 1915 - 1935 at the Royal Academy of Arts.  I love a bit of Soviet architecture.  Really strong and also a bit delusional.  There were photographs of the buildings as they are today, alongside of photos of when they were originally built.  The modern photos are often very large, so you kind of feel as if you are in the space.   There were gorgeous paintings by Popova also, and her contemporary artists.  It was packed though, so if you are going, I'd go soon, and early.... worth the visit.

I also popped along to Dover Street Market, to see the Chapman Brothers new installation, and browse painfully beautiful clothes... one can dream!  I guess I'm not a huge fan of the Chapman Brothers, but still find their work fascinating, ever since I was introduced to their work at the Sensations exhibition in the 90's.  I wish I still had that catalogue! 

Courthauld  - Material Matters

Building the Revolution

Dover Street Market